


Unlikely Pair

by LoveMeNever



Category: Divergent Series - Veronica Roth
Genre: F/F
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-07-16
Updated: 2015-07-18
Packaged: 2018-04-09 17:18:33
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,975
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4357706
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LoveMeNever/pseuds/LoveMeNever
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Rule breaking was never part of Jeanine Matthew's moral compass, but Lily Grey challenges the laws Jeanine lives by. Can they coincide, or will they clash and burn everything in their paths? AU!Young Jeanine and slight high school. Jeanine/OC.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

The Choosing Ceremony is soon. The whole school knows it. All the teachers are wrapping up their lessons and giving us life advice, and each faction is preparing for new initiates.

The weight of picking a new faction or staying in the same faction rests on the of-age kids, myself included, but my situation is a little more delicate.

I happen to glance over at India, my younger sister, who sits with a group of Erudite animatedly chatting. She looks a lot like our mother- bright red-brown hair, brown eyes, light freckles ghosting her nose, full lips and tanned skin. The only feature I received from my mother was the tanned skin, full lips, and hazel eyes. The rest of me has my father’s dark hair and strong features.

Never have I been called beautiful or easy on the eyes. My facial features are too strong, so when I receive compliments, they have been catcalling or whistling. More objectifiable than anything.

Continuing to stare at India, my lips tug down, because I know what this means. Everyone has always known it. Deep down they know India belongs in Erudite. She is far too curious for a Dauntless born. For example, when told to do something, India asks questions. The other Dauntless kids and I would do it without questioning or ask questions later. Her eyes light up when she watches Erudite leaders on T.V. or the Erudite kids at school, and she tends to associate more with them.

I know I belong in Dauntless, and in a couple of weeks I take my aptitude test, a test that helps sixteen year olds choose a faction based on their attributes, to confirm it.

The only problem, the delicate situation, with being Dauntless is that it means I have to deal with my father for the rest of his remaining life. As horrible as it sounds, I would actually choose another faction to get away from him, but if I did that, he’d take his anger out on India and she would not be able to transfer for another three years. I can’t do that to her. My father is a drunk, and an angry one. Ever since my mother died, no one has been able to calm him down, she was the sole reason he kept it together. He’s always had a temper, but my mother somehow was able to help him control it. Now it runs loose like a stampede.

“Earth to Lily, Lily Grey.” George, my best friend, snaps his fingers in front of my face, “You in there? You’ve barely eaten your lunch, something wrong?”

George is Dauntless too. We have grown up together mostly inseparable. We are the same age, so he’ll be taking his aptitude test soon as well. I have never been able to quite put my finger on where he belongs, which faction, but if I had to guess I’d say he’s more Candor than Dauntless. The kid cannot tell a lie if his life depended on it.

“You know you can’t stop her from choosing Erudite, right?” He sighs while following my gaze over his shoulder at my sister sitting with the Erudite kids.

My eyes are still fixed on India, “Yeah… maybe it will be for the best, though. At least she’ll be able to start fresh.”

George snickers, “Is that really you talking? Yesterday you were saying how hard it would be to see her leave, and how you were going to keep her from transferring factions and now you’re all ‘It’s for the best’?”

That was before last night, though. Before my father nearly killed her for ditching her combat training to go read in the library, and yes, Dauntless has a library, albeit a small one. No one can see the bruises under her shirt, but I know they are there. When she winces or catches herself weird, she plays it off, but I know she’s hurting.

At the time it happened, I was gone with George and my other friends, so the only help I was to her was helping her lie down and take some meds for the pain when I got home. Later I confronted my father, drunk and pathetic, but he wouldn’t remember my screaming or fury when he sobered, in my books that would not be worth it, so I ended up leaving him on the ground of the bar.

“Hey people can change their minds overnight, you know.” I punch him in the arm, and steal some of his fries while he cradles his arm.

“Ow, eat your own!”

He tries to snatch my food but I hold it just out of his reach grinning, “You’re way to slow, man.”

“Oh yeah?”

“Yep,” I pop the word while eating the fry I stole, but my victory doesn’t last long when he swipes my drink and runs from the table.

On pure instinct I drop everything and sprint after him passing the Erudite table who all roll their eyes. Most people would call this childish, and over a drink nonetheless, but it’s not even about the drink, it’s about testing who is faster and stronger. A couple Dauntless kids pound their fists on tabletops and holler at us as we play cat and mouse in the lunch courtyard. Much like if we were in the Pit back in Dauntless.  
George uses tables and chairs to put something between us while I circle around or jump over them. One table breaks when I crash into it. Finally I gain the upper hand by jumping on the Abnegation table, the kids there quickly move out of the way, and tackle George from behind. We crash to the ground with me straddling his back and pinning his arms with my knees. He tries to kick out but I grab my drink he managed not to spill before he can.

“Ha, what’s that… 31 wins for me and 15 for you?” I chuckle in his ear before standing up and spinning on my heel to walk back to the table. To my right Hunter Lawson, an Abnegation guy, wears a look of disapproval. He won’t say anything because he’s Abnegation. It irks me the way the Abnegation run things. They claim to be selfless, but I’ve always seen it as they don’t have any thoughts of their own. People who follow rules blindly. The opposite of Dauntless in every way.

When I turn again to walk back, I come face to face with the vice principal who has a nasty glare on his clean cut features.  
~  
“Miss Grey, can you tell us what you were doing at lunch exactly?” The principal asks me in his office with his trusty sidekick, the vice principal, standing next to me with his arms crossed. The principal was Erudite while the vice principal was Candor.

“Having a little fun with my friend. Why am I here? No one got hurt.”

“That may be the case but you and your friend damaged school property and could have easily harmed another student. Now I know Dauntless promotes reckless behavior, but here we have rules for all the factions to follow.”

His remark rubs me the wrong way because it sounds like he’s judging Dauntless. Erudite often stereotype Dauntless as brainless, adrenaline junky, troublemakers but we are much smarter than they believe.

“Oh yes, Erudite rules that allow no room for fun? You do know the meaning of the word fun, right? I’m sure you’ve read about it somewhere in one of your precious books,” I say sarcastically.

The vice principal uncrosses his arms and turns red with fury, but the principal smiles and folds his hands neatly over his desk. He calmly says,

“Do not let it happen again, Miss Grey. Otherwise I will be forced to remove you from this school, and I don’t wish to see that take place.”

Oh, I forgot; he can threaten to remove me from school which means I won’t be able to take my aptitude test and then I will become factionless. That’s an effective way to shut me up. Both principals have a victorious little smirk on their faces that I would love to smack off. Instead I sulk out of the room.

George sits outside waiting on his punishment. We give each other exasperated, wide eyed expressions before heading different ways. Him into the office and myself to my next class. 

As I sit down at my desk in Biology, late because of the trip to the principal’s office, I hear someone snort next to me. My eyes lift up to see a blonde girl with striking gray-blue eyes quickly avert her gaze from me to her notes. She wears the trademark blue clothes from Erudite. Her name slips my mind mainly because she was the type that answered questions in class more than anyone else and I always thought she was a snob for it. I ignored her mostly and this was the first time we’ve ever made eye contact. Possibly even the first time I’ve looked at her.

“Do you have a problem?” I snap at her. I’m in no mood to be made fun of by an Erudite.

“Not at all.”

“Thought so,” I start reading over my short ill-taken notes, but out of the corner of my eye I see her glancing at me every so often with an expression of curiosity and evaluation.

Against my instincts, I ignore her and focus on the teacher for once.

After Biology, I make a point to leave before the Erudite girl can say anything to me. I’d prefer not getting expelled the same day I get a warning to keep my head low. School is still in for another three weeks before the aptitude test and then I can become Dauntless officially. Surely I can last three weeks without incident.

My next class is the last one for the day. It’s my better subject- History. Learning about old nations, militaries, and military leaders always interested me. Sometimes our lesson would be all about how old militaries fought a long time ago and it was similar to tactics so I enjoyed it, usually. However, today I notice the blonde Erudite girl is actually in this class too. The teacher is not keen on allowing interruptions, such as questions, so that’s probably why I’ve never noticed her before now. What a pain. She sits at the front of the classroom in the middle row, so she can’t see me staring at her with mild annoyance. She perks up at each detail or fact the teacher states, infuriating me, because I know she wants to ask a million questions.

I tear my eyes away unable to withstand the girl’s irritable behavior much longer. I’ve never wished for this class to be over sooner, and when the bell rings, I jump out of my seat like lightning. It’s unfortunate that I hear another chuckle from the blonde Erudite girl before I make it out of the room. The sound makes me stop in my tracks. All the other kids file out the room and as the blonde girl tries to walk past me I grab her arm and drag her to the girls’ bathroom. A little more rough than I intended, though. She looks mortified.

“Obviously you have something to say to me so why not just say it?” I let her go and she stumbles a little backing away from me.

She glances at the door behind me then around the bathroom. I know what she’s doing. She’s looking for a way out, or for someone to help her. No one is here, though.

“Well?” I cross my arms in an intimidating manner allowing my muscles to show a bit. I’m not going to do anything to her, but she is unsure of that.

She clears her throat, “I just found it interesting how different you and your sister are is all.”

“What?” That was not what I was expecting.

“Your sister. You two are nothing alike. She clearly got all the brains in the family.”

“Yeah she’s a smart one,” I say tightly unsure whether I should ignore the insult to my intelligence or take the compliment for India’s sake.

Before she said anything else the door to the bathroom opens and in walks my sister, her red-brown locks flowing freely and her brown eyes show relief, “There you are! The train is about to come, we’ve got to leave.” She sees the blonde girl in front of me, “Oh hey Jeanine, what are you two doing?”

When she asks the question, she suspiciously squints her eyes at me. My reply is shrugging at her pretending I don’t know what she’s thinking. She thinks I’m bullying her, or something along those lines.

“I’m simply having a chat with your sister, but I was just leaving. Wouldn’t want you two to miss the train.” The blonde, apparently named Jeanine, steps past us and out of the bathroom.

India is going to say something, scold me probably, but I walk towards the door telling her to hurry or we’ll miss the train and have to wait on the next which will get us in trouble with dear-old-dad.


	2. Delicate

The next morning is like any other: I wake up before my father or India to do a little morning routine exercise, and then I get dressed for school and wake up India. Dad usually sleeps through when we leave which is okay by me. The guy is hungover and mean in the morning. The most I do for him is set an alarm so he goes into work on time. When I was young, my mother used to be the one who shielded India and I from his lifestyle. Now I'm the one who tries to shield India.

India and I catch the train for school, and she immediately heads off to class with her friends. One who is called Andrew Prior an Erudite boy my age, and Justin Chase an Amity boy. My friend Natalie Wright has a different first period class than me, so we usually talk to each other later, and George catches up with me later too. He always misses first period.

One time I offered to wake him up at his house but he said, "I don't want to be woken up by drop kick, thanks." That only happened once, though. Right now he is the least of my worries, though. I have to focus on staying out of trouble.

My first two classes went without incident, and I was heading to lunch with George and India. As soon as we entered the lunch room, India left to sit with the Erudite who all greeted her like one of their own. George and I sat with the Dauntless kids as usual.

"Heard you two got into some trouble the other day. I mean I'm gone a day and you cause mayhem without me?" Max, the most popular Dauntless kid, grins and lightly pushes his shoulder against mine when I sit down.

His dad was one of the Dauntless leaders so everyone knew he was being "groomed" to take a high ranking position when he officially became part of the faction. We have always been rivals more than friends. He irritates me.

"Yeah unfortunately that's my last strike, gotta lay low for a while." I take a sip of my water and a bite of my hamburger.

George, Max, Natalie, and a couple other Dauntless kids chat while my eyes catch Jeanine talking with my sister. India smiles and points in my direction. She waves when she sees me already looking her way. I throw up my hand casually but I wonder why she's talking about me to Jeanine of all people. Speaking of the Erudite girl, she is staring at me with curious eyes. Does she have an issue with me or something? Why all of the sudden is she so interested in me and my sister?

The bell rings letting the students know we have five minutes to get to our next class. Mine is biology with Jeanine sitting next to me… so that'll be fun.

Luckily she doesn't say anything to me the whole class period, and I'm able to go back to ignoring her again. In history the most she does is raise an eyebrow at me while she walks to her seat. Other than that the rest of the day goes smoothly with no incidents.

After our last class India and I meet at the front of the school and start running with the other Dauntless to the train. We easily hopped on and rode it back home.

As soon as we stepped in the door I knew something was wrong. My dad was home. He usually did not get back until late after India and I were asleep. The smell of alcohol filled the entire apartment. India swallows loud enough for me to hear it, so I know she's on edge.

"Just go to your room. I'll see what's up," I smile reassuringly at her and for a moment she hesitates but eventually sneaks to her room. I wait for her room door to shut before moving into the living room.

My father is reclined in his big chair staring blankly with glazed, red shot eyes at the TV. My hands stay clenched at my sides. My whole body is tensed up. "Dad?"

His eyes leave the screen and settle on me. He has an eerie smirk on his lips, but his eyes are dead. He's huge in size; muscular from constant training, and taller than six feet. He has let his hair get long and ragged along with his beard. He was never very clean cut even when my mother was alive.

"What are you doing home so soon?" I ask hesitantly, one wrong tone or note in my voice and his anger will unleash. It is like tiptoeing through a field of landmines.

"Not happy to see me or something?"

No I'm not, but I can't exactly say that to him. Instead I smile, "Have you eaten? I could make you something."

"That'd be nice. Why don't we have a little family dinner for once?" This surprises me and terrifies me. It's hard to tell if he's being genuine or if he's livid.

"Sure. What do you want?"

"Whatever is in there is fine."

"Okay. I'll be back." I leave the room to go into the kitchen, and I let out a shaky breath I must have been holding.

There is limited options in the fridge and the cabinets. The only thing I find is a couple of frozen pizzas so I put those in the oven. They're ready in twenty minutes. I go get India and dad and we sit down at our little four person table. India and I sit across from each other with our father sitting at the "head" of the table. It's a square table so there is not actually a head seat but he likes to think there is.

"This all we had?" My dad asks while examining the pizza then staring at me.

All I do is nod and mumble, "Yes sir."

Somehow I feel this is the eerie calm before the storm, and India seems to sense it too. She refuses to utter a word.

"How's school?" He suddenly asks breaking the tense silence.

India looks at me before answering him, "It's good. I've got the highest grade in some of my classes."

Dad smiles at her then his eyes turn to me, and it's like he's daring me to lie to him, "And you?"

"My grades are decent," I say. It is mostly the truth other than leaving out the "one more strike and I'm out" situation.

"That all? Anything else I should know?"

"No sir-"

"Yeah? Cause how come I get a call today from the school telling me you've got one last strike before you're kicked out, huh?!" He stands so suddenly to tower over me the whole table moves.

I keep my eyes away from his and to the floor. That thing about not looking a wild animal in the eyes because it's a challenge to them applies to this man too. My eyes flicker up for a moment to see India's eyes wide with fear.

"Do you want to be factionless?!" His fist slams into the table making all the plates clatter, "Answer me!"

"No of course not!" I shout back. A fatal mistake on my part but I couldn't stand him yelling anymore.

The back of his hand smacks against my cheek so hard I fall out my chair making India yelp and run to my side. He's got a hell of a bitch slap, that's for sure. My cheek feels like it's on fire and I feel something warm trickle down my face. His bulky Dauntless ring probably broke the skin.

I am still a little disoriented, but I hear India being shoved away from me, and then I'm being hoisted up by the back of my neck. When I'm face to face with him pinning me against the wall he shouts, "Don't use that tone with me! Now you listen to me, spoiled brat. You're going to go to that school and keep your head down. I don't care if your other buddies are going crazy having fun but you will not be a part of it! Do you understand me?"

Like I was not already aware of that but in order to avoid any more conflict I nod. He lets me go roughly, "Clean all this up."

After he's gone I just stare at the floor for a minute. I have to get India away from this man, but she still has three more years until she can transfer to Erudite. Those three years are going to be a long three years.

India puts her hand on my shoulder and examines my face. "I'll clean this mess," she motions to the table which had been shoved enough that the plates and glasses fell to the floor. Broken pieces of glass and plates are scattered around.

"It's okay I'll help," I say moving to pick up the bigger pieces of broken plates.

She knows there is no reason protesting because I'm too stubborn to listen. Once we're done cleaning, she gets a gauze and healing ointment for my cheek. We go to my room after we're sure dad is passed out in his room. My reflection in the mirror confirms my suspicion about his ring cutting me. There is a thin trail of blood running down, but India uses a towel to wipe it away.

"Sorry you had to see that," I apologize to her softly.

"You and I both know he's unpredictable and you're not the one who should be apologizing so stop it," she rubs the healing ointment on the cut and finishes up taping the gauze to my cheek. There really is no reason for the gauze, but I think India feels better knowing it is there. Even though she knows I'm just going to take it off tomorrow before school.

"Thanks for the patch up," I smile at her, "you should get some sleep."

On queue she yawns and stretches, "Okay. Are you sure you're okay?"

"Yeah, are you?"

"Yes."

I nod and pat her leg. She stands and goes back to her room for the night.

My cheek still burns even as I lie down trying to sleep, but for obvious reasons I find it difficult to shut my thoughts off. Knowing sleep will not come tonight, I sit up and touch my cheek. I can already feel the soreness and know it's going to leave a bruise tomorrow. Fantastic.


End file.
